One More Gun
by TeyrianTimelord
Summary: The team discusses their new member. Cougar loses his patience. Jensen gets jealous. The past comes to life, and someone gets hurt. One-shot, but chapter. NONSLASH! CougarxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, the usual info. Since my new chronicles of Losers One-Shots and drabble are in no particular order and include many flashbacks, everything will unfold in time and eventually become clear. Future stories will be labeled "before" or "after" this one. Movieverse with some serious twists. NON-SLASH! Cougar and Jensen are just really good friends! Besides, contains CougarxOC. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Clay, Cougar, Jensen, Pooch, Roque, Aisha, Max, or Jolene. I do, however, own Maria, Alé, Marcos, and Jackie. **

Another Gun

"Alright boys, behave," Jolene shouted over her shoulder, grabbing the car keys off the key rack. "I'm kidnapping Maria to run errands with me. Don't have too much fun while we're done."

"Don't worry, I'll keep 'em in line," Aisha said, propping her feet up on the table and leaning back in her chair. Jolene signaled her to keep her shoes off the furniture. Jensen rolled his eyes. The team could take on 50 guys with AKs, drive a school bus full of Bolivian children while completely on fire, stop an evil genius from de-materializing the port of Los Angeles, and get back to normal life in time to celebrate the birth of Pooch and Jolene's son. One would think she would trust them to stay home alone for a few hours. Besides, they already had plans.

Jolene raised her eyebrows. "I let Roque try to make lunch one day and half our kitchen was on fire!"

Roque looked up from the newspaper he was reading on the couch. "For the record, that was a onetime fluke. No one ever told me that a blowtorch would not work on mac-n-cheese!"

"And the time Jensen tried babysitting George and he ended up duct taped to the ceiling."

Everyone laughed at the memory of the two-year-old wrapped in a half cocoon of silver sticky tape. Jolene and Pooch nearly cut off Jensen's right hand for that. Jensen simply shrugged his shoulder when everyone looked at him for an explanation or self defense comment. He wasn't really sorry for it.

Maria smiled slightly between little chuckles. "Let's just go, Jolene. There's nothing this house hasn't been through with us around." She turned to the rest of the group. "Hasta luego, chicos."

Jensen eyed Cougar suspiciously as the sniper tipped his hat and quietly replied, "Adios, ellas." At least the two were using words he could slightly understand. He was becoming more and more convinced that it would be worth learning Spanish just to eavesdrop on the two.

As soon as the two girls left the room, the six remaining team members jumped up from their cover positions and circled around the kitchen table.

"So," Clay started. "Maria has been with us for a week now. I want impressions and analysis from everyone."

Aisha nodded to volunteer to go first. "She's okay, I guess. Shoots well, packs a punch, plus it's kind of nice to have another girl around. Wouldn't trust her with everything, but I think she's reliable and valuable."

Clay shook his head. "Pooch? Input?"

"The Pooch approves. The girl could be my long lost white sister. I mean, especially with George growing up, Jolene needs me here more than ever. I won't be able to make every mission with you anymore. But I think this little Argentina senorita would make a great fill in for me. If it has an engine, she can fix it. If it moves, she can drive it. If it has a trigger she can shoot it. I don't know what else we could hope for."

Roque leaned his elbow on the table. "I don't know, bro. One chick is enough trouble."

Aisha raised one eyebrow with a face that looked like she was ready to spit nails.

"Yeah, but she's seriously bad-ass," Jensen added.

"You're just saying that because she beats the shit out of you in Black Ops," Roque replied with a chuckle. Jensen crossed his arms in a mock pout.

"That was one time."

"Then why haven't you played her since then?"

Pooch, Clay, and Cougar erupted with laughter. Jensen put a hand over his heart.

"That hurts right here, guys. Right here."

Clay turned to Cougar. "Any thoughts under that hat of yours, Cougs?"

He shook his head slightly. "She can stay."

Jensen leapt up and pointed a finger at his friend. "That was a sentence! A full clause sentence! I know what _that _means!"

A faint blush appeared on Cougar's cheeks.

Pooch slapped his forehead in revelation. "Oh my God. Oh my God! This is priceless."

Aisha threw her hands up and leaned back. "She had you at 'no se' didn't she?"

An awestruck Clay exchanged shocked looks with a jaw-dropped Roque, who shook his head. "I can't believe this crazy shit. Cougar? Really? Never saw that coming."

"Cougar has a crush!" Pooch and Aisha chimed simultaneously.

The sniper pulled the brim of his black cowboy hat over his face and grumbled to himself in Spanish. Jensen though he heard, "Maldita humor Americano. Deja mí solo." He didn't know what it meant, but he guessed it wasn't particularly friendly. But it was true; things had really changed since Maria had joined the group. Cougar spent less time with the boys, less time with Jensen –his best friend!-, but he laughed more, smiled more, talked more (in Spanish, and not with any of them, of course. But still…). Jensen could never decide whether to adore Maria for all the emotion she brought back to his friend, or hate her for luring him away.

"Relax Cougs. We're just messin' with you," Clay said casually, bring Jensen out of his wacky space-out musing. "No one really cares if you finally found a girl that makes you happy."

"Just be careful, dude," Roque warned. "We all know what happened the last time two of us had that kind of an urge."

Everyone 'oooh'ed at Aisha and Clay, who exchanged a fist bump. That is, everyone except Cougar. Out of nowhere, he drew a knife and threw it in the wall inches from Roque's face. Jensen expected someone to strike back or something but all movement ceased, and the room was consumed in a heavy pall of silence, save for the sound of forced breath. Clay finally interrupted the threatening hush, jumping out of his chair.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" he yelled, yanking the knife out of the wall.

"No me hables así de nuevo. Yo no soy esa clase de hombre" Cougar growled.

"English, soldier!"

Cougar glared at the colonel. "I am not that kind of man."

_Longest English sentence ever! _Jensen mouthed to Pooch. The designated driver nodded with wide eyes, still recovering from the shock of Cougar's outburst. Roque put his hands above his head.

"Take it easy, man, I was just making a joke."

"It was not funny," Cougar mumbled. He snatched his knife out of Clay's hand and slid it back into its sheath. "Next time, I will kill him." With that, he walked out the front door, slamming it hard behind him.

Jensen sighed in frustration and got up to follow him, but Pooch grabbed his arm.

"Let him go. I don't know what made him so pissed off, but I'm sure he just wants to be alone."

"Yeah," he replied, running a hand through his spiked blond hair. "I've never seen him this worked up over something so small."

For a few minutes, the remaining members of the team just crossed their arms without speaking, each one lost in his (or her) own thoughts. _This is about her, _Jensen could help but think. _He never would have acted like this before she came. What could she have done to gain so much control over him without even demanding a single thing. Or is a life of always killing just finally getting to his brain…_

**_The Losers_**

Cougar sat on the park bench watching the world spin around him. Two kids tossed a frizbee back and forth. A teenage girl under a maple tree had her nose in a beat up copy of _War and Peace. _A woman handed an ice-cream to a young boy that appeared to be her son. The overall setting of the park was perfectly domestic and serene. But it didn't reduce the fire of anger burning in his stomach. So what if he had feelings for Maria? So what if he thought she was strong and beautiful and talented? So what? But unlike Clay or Roque or Aisha, Cougar was not a one night stand for anyone! He knew that hurt. He knew it wasn't right. So many things that happened in his life hadn't been right…

_"Mama! Mama! Mira! Mira!"_

_"Que esta, Carlos?" _

_The young boy ran up to his mother with a little dove in his hand, blood dripping down its left wing. The woman knelt down to his level and stroked the bird in sympathy._

_"Pobre pájaro…" she murmured. "What are you going to do with it, Carlos?"_

_"Quiero mantenerlo hasta que pueda volar de nuevo!" he replied._

_The woman shook her head. Her son was such a caring boy. Every other week he brought home a wounded or starving animal, wanting to nurture it back to health. If only he knew the way of the world._

_"Carlos," she sighed in exhaustion, signaling for him to sit down next to her. "You cannot save everything. One day you will have a family of your own to take care of, and you will be a wonderful father. But until then, you need to focus on your chores and what needs to be done to keep food on our table."_

_"But Mama, isn't it important to take care of all God's children?" the child replied in a sad voice that made the woman both proud and disheartened._

_"Sí, hijo, pero no hoy."_

He wanted to believe she was right.

_"Carlos, come here, hijo." The woman called her son to the door way. The young boy, now sixteen, clutched the handle of his battered suitcase so tightly that his fingers went pale. He touched the brim of his black cowboy hat for comfort and the frayed edges of the bandana around his neck for luck. There was a man in their house. An American man in a faded suit, holding a briefcase full of papers with Carlos' name on them. The woman's eyes were rimmed with red. She had been crying for several hours beforehand. _

_"Carlos," she said, wiping a loose tear from her cheek. "This is Mr. McKelley. He's from the United States Immigration Unit. He's going to take you to your new home."_

_The boy took a few steps back. "Pero Mama, yo no quiero ir!"_

_"English, Carlos! They speak English in the United States!"_

_"Pero yo no quiero ir!"_

_The woman grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, but with an unfamiliar tenderness in her grip._

_"Carlos," she whispered sternly in his ear. "Only one of us can go. The United States will have a better life for you. A safer life."_

_"No quiero una vida más segura, quiero que nuestra vida."_

"Hey, mister!"

Cougar whipped his head up, breaking the trance that had captured him. What time was it? The sun was just beginning to sink under the horizon. It must have been a few hours since he had stormed out of the Curley's house…

Then Cougar almost jumped out of his own skin. A little boy with copper skin and black hair, no older than seven, walked toward him. He was nearly the spitting image of the naive boy he had just seen! The child approached Cougar with no fear or hesitation. He held out a dirty speckled bandana.

"This blew off your neck a few minutes ago. Do you want it back?" The boy's voice was lathered in a thick Mexican accent.

Cougar blinked a few times. That bandana had followed him from home to America to just about the entire globe. How did he not notice it blowing away? He carefully accepted the stained strip of cloth.

"Thank you."

**_The Losers_**

Maria paced outside the front door. Jensen had told her everything that happened while she and Jolene were at the grocery store. Since then, she'd been waiting. It was two hours after nightfall when she finally sat down on the front step and dropped her chin into her palm. Cougar was thirty five, perfectly capable of fending for himself, but Maria was still worried. Roque had really struck a cord somehow, and sometimes facing your inner demons was harder than fighting an armed soldier. When her mother died she was ready to slit her wrists. When Alé was murdered it nearly drove her mad. The burning hatred for Max was enough to force her around the world. Maria didn't know much about Cougar's demons, but she could see them raging, caged behind his eyes.

A snapping twig made Maria pay attention again. A lone figure made his way up the road. She would have passed it off as a stranger if not for the unmistakable black cowboy hat that rested on his head. She slowly stood up as he came close enough for her to see his face.

"Hey," she said as calmly as she could. "Cómo te va?"

Cougar didn't answer her, but instead lightly traced the side of her face with his hand, the corners of his lips slightly pulled up.

"I'll take that as a 'better.'"

He grasped her hand and sat down on the steps, gently pulling her with him.

"Español, por favor," he murmured and adjusted himself for Maria to rest her head on his shoulder. The sudden affection caught her off guard. It had been little more than two weeks since they met.

"Hábleme de su familia. Uno mas tiempo"

Maria softly slid her hand into his.

"Voy a empezer con mi hermano, Alé. Era muy parecido a tu…"

**_The Losers_**

Jensen pulled the curtains closed with such force that they almost tore off the rod. Apparently Cougar was quite the chatter-box when he had the opportunity to speak Spanish with a hot Argentine-American chick.

"So I'm not good enough now just because I can't understand your Hispanic blabbering," he muttered bitterly to himself. "Even though I'm the one that's covered your ass for the past eight years. Well, that may be the other way around."

"What the hell are you whining about this time?" Pooch said from the door.

Jensen jumped up and ran his hands over his face in embarrassment.

"Woah, Pooch, how much of that did you hear?"

His teammate laughed.

"Not a word. But I'm guessing it has something to do with the two people you've been staring at for the past hour. Leave 'em alone, will ya? Cougar's had a rough day. Besides, dinner's getting cold."

Jensen sighed. Obsessing over Maria and Cougar wasn't anywhere near healthy for his mental state. He didn't hate her. In fact, he rather enjoyed having her around. Just not when his best friend was going all puppy dog eyed over her. Taking a deep breath, he dared to look out the window one more time. From between the folds of the drapes he could barely catch sight of Maria's head dropped in her hands, her shoulders slightly shaking. Cougar repeatedly ran his hand over her hair in a slow circular motion. _Oh my God. Is she crying? _Jensen thought. _Holy shit. _Suddenly, Jensen felt more comfortable seeing Cougar touching her the way he was. He knew that Maria's whole family was dead, most of them murdered by Max. A strong feeling in his gut told him that painful memories had something to do with it.

With a small tugging at his conscience, Jensen heaved himself into the dining room, where Jolene and Aisha were dishing out homemade pizza to the boys. Jensen dropped into a chair around the table. Jolene handed him an open beer.

"You look like you've been ghost hunting," she said with both humor and sympathy. "Eat something. Maybe some of the color will come back to your face."

"Should I go get Cougar and Maria?" he offered, already halfway out of his chair.

Clay shot a 'stay put' look his direction.

"The girl's twenty nine and Cougar's… well, Cougar. They'll come in when they're hungry."

"I'm not so sure."

"So!" Jolene interrupted cheerfully, obviously trying to change the subject. "How would it make everyone feel to go to the shooting range tomorrow? You boys need to spend some time with your toys. Oh, Aisha and Maria too."

Pooch waved his slice of pizza in the air. "Baby, when's the last time I told you how much I loved you?"

Clay raised his Mike's. "Here's to Mrs. C."

Everyone one else laughed and put in their own beverage.

"Cheers," Jensen mumbled, taking a long swig of beer. _Cheers to pretending all is well in life. Cheers to pretending that Maria isn't crying her eyes out because she lives every day with her brother's memory. That Clay finally trusts Roque again. That Aisha doesn't spend five hours a day plotting her revenge. That Jolene doesn't wish Maria could take Pooch's place. That Cougar isn't slowly changing. That I don't wish things were back to the way they had been before Bolivia._

Suddenly, Maria stuck her head in through the door. Jensen couldn't help but notice slightly red-tinted rings around her eyes.

"Jolene, the pizza guy here. Do you have any money to pay him?"

Jolene raised her eyebrows. "Honey, I didn't order any pizza. He must have the wrong-"

Maria screamed. A gunshot echoed through the house. Then a second. Then a third. Everyone jumped out of their seat and shot for the door. Jensen was the first to swing it open, and found himself ready to tear someone's throat out, that is, if he didn't puke. Maria was pulling a bowie knife from her left arm. Cougar was leaning over, clutching his side. A steady leak of blood was dripping down over his hands, forming a small puddle at his feet. A man in a Domino's pizza delivery uniform lay dead on the sidewalk.

"Holy shit," Clay hissed. "What happened?"

"Do you think we have time to explain?" Maria screamed. "He shot Cougar!"

**So, to be continued in my next story. Coming soon, this time, I promise. **

**Please review! The more feedback I get, the more motivated I'll be to keep going! Come on, don't you guys want to know what happens to Cougar? You know you do.**

**-**_**"Nunca toque el sombrero!"**_

_**Very Important Info! **_**If you want to be alerted about the next part of the story, DO NOT ADD THIS STORY TO YOUR WATCHLIST! YOU NEED TO ADD ME TO YOUR WATCHLIST! The next "chapter" so to speak, is a seperate one-shot**


	2. Spanish to English Translations

Spanish to English Translations for "One More Gun"

Hasta luego, chico! – Later boys! *literally, until later, boys*

Adios, ellas – Goodbye, ladies.

Maldita humor Americano. Deja mí solo – Damn American humor. Leave me alone.

No me hables así de nuevo. Yo no soy esa clase de hombre – Do not talk like that again. I am not that kind of a man

Que esta, Carlos? – What is it, Carlos?

_Pobre pájaro – _Poor bird

_Quiero mantenerlo hasta que pueda volar de nuevo _– I want to keep it until it can fly again

_Sí, hijo, pero no hoy _– Yes, son, but not today.

_Pero Mama, yo no quiero ir _– But Mom, I don't want to go

_No quiero una vida más segura, quiero que nuestra vida _– I do not want a safer life, I want our life

Cómo te va? – How are you?

Español, por favor. Hábleme de su familia. Uno mas tiempo. – Spanish, please. Tell me about your family, one more time.

Voy a empezar con mi hermano, Alé. Era muy parecido a tu… - I'll start with my brother, Alé. He was a lot like you…


End file.
